Where Are You?
by Ocytavia
Summary: When Haku doesn't come when Chihiro needs him most, she starts to wonder if it was really real, or if she just imagined the whole thing. Currently on Standby
1. Chapter 1

Where Are You?

Chapter 1- I Need Help

Chihiro was cold. No, she had past cold long ago, she was freezing. She didn't know what time it was, and it didn't really matter. She was soaked to the bone, and shivering violently. It had been raining all night, and it would probably rain all day. She didn't know if she would last that long. She was only wearing her t-shirt and shorts. She hadn't planned for this to happen.

She sneezed. Now she really needed a tissue, as the matter had become messy. Of course, she didn't have one, so she used the back of her hand. She kept going. She had been running for a long time now. She wasn't sure how long, but she knew that she was exhausted. She needed to find somewhere warm, and quickly.

Well, now you'll be wondering how she got into this state, won't you? Well, it all started a few weeks ago. No, it went back further than that; it went back to around 6 years ago, when Chihiro was 9. It was when they first moved to their new house. When Chihiro went to the spirit world.

Of course, no-one would ever believe her, so she never told anyone about her adventure. As time went on, she began to doubt it herself. She thought it must have been her imagination, maybe, or a dream. After all, witches and dragons and magic didn't exist, right?

But somehow, she still couldn't stop thinking about it, about Lin, about No-Face… about Haku. She couldn't help but believe they were real. It was all just too real to be her imagination. It was just too real to be a dream.

So she started her new school. It wasn't so bad, to begin with. Everyone was friendly to her, but she didn't have any friends yet. Everybody knew her name, and it was kind of scary. She had complete strangers saying hello to her, like they were old friends, and she didn't even know their names.

Eventually, she got a friend. Just one, but that was all she needed. Miroki was her best friend at the new school. They told each other everything. Well, almost everything. Chihiro never told her about Haku, and she wasn't planning to anytime soon.

And then Miroki fell for a guy from their class, Keika. Chihiro admitted that he was cute, but he was so full of himself. Miroki would not stop talking about him, it was Keika this, and Keika that, it was driving Chihiro crazy.

But then she lost her best friend, all because of Keika. It turned out, Keika liked Chihiro. He worked up the courage to ask her out; unfortunately, he did it right in front of Miroki. And it all went downhill from there. Chihiro turned Keika down, because she didn't want her friend to hate her, and because she really didn't like him that much. But Miroki wouldn't forgive Chihiro, even though it wasn't her fault. Chihiro blamed Keika, even though he didn't know what he had done.

So Chihiro was left with no-one. Keika tried to ask her out a few more times, but he was always rejected. Chihiro saw him as the reason for her problems, and didn't want anything to do with him. She hated him.

Then Chihiro started high school. She didn't know anyone at this new school, but it didn't matter. She wouldn't have any friends anyway. So she was silent and kept to herself. She spent most of her time in the library, but she wasn't reading. She was drawing. She drew Haku, mostly, but sometimes she drew No-Face, sometimes Lin, sometimes Kamajii, sometimes Boh, sometimes the annoying little frog that stopped Haku on the bridge. The spirit world was the only place she had real friends.

One day, one of her teachers, Mr. Kaki, found her in the library. He was a nice guy, fairly young for a teacher. Chihiro had him for art, but they only ever drew fruit, so she didn't try very hard. She had tired to hide her drawings, but he easily took them from her.

"These are really good," he had told her. "Why don't I see drawings as good as these in art class?"

Chihiro didn't say anything. He started to flip through the pages.

"These are really good Chihiro, especially the ones of the dragons. Do you like dragons?"

Chihiro shook her head. Her teacher was confused.

"Then why do you draw them so much?"

"I only draw one dragon," she said quietly.

"Okay then. Does this dragon have a name?" She knew he wasn't really interested, he just wanted to get her to talk.

"His name is Haku. He's the spirit of the Kohaku River." She didn't know why she was telling him these things. She never told anyone these things.

"The Kohaku River? Wasn't that built over?"

"Well, yeah. That's why he couldn't stay. So he went to that bath house where he signed a contract with Yubaba-"

"Yubaba?"

"Yubaba's a witch. Anyway, he signed the contract, and she stole his name. That's how he became Haku…" She trailed off when she noticed him smiling, almost laughing. "Are you laughing at me?"

"No," he assured her. "I think it's great that you have such a big imagination."

"Typical," she said under her breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," Chihiro said, grabbing her sketch book back. "I've got to go, bye." She rushed off. She didn't really want to talk to him, because he was an adult, he wouldn't understand.

Chihiro stopped going to the library to draw after that, afraid that Mr. Kaki would find her. She locked herself in the toilet at lunch, and stayed there until the bell went, drawing. Mr. Kaki noticed, though. It seemed as though he was going out of his way to help Chihiro. Well, he might have thought he was helping her, but he was just being annoying for her. One day, he kept her back after class.

"I haven't seen you anywhere at lunch."

"So?" Chihiro was being pretty rude to him.

"Chihiro, I'm beginning to get the feeling you avoiding me," he said, leaning back on his desk.

"I wouldn't need to avoid you if you would just stop bothering me," she replied, wanting to get away from him. He made her feel like a girl with an over-active imagination, and she didn't like that at all.

"Chihiro, is there something going on at home?"

"No," She replied. Teachers always jumped to that conclusion.

"What about at school?"

"Look," Chihiro said, getting annoyed. "I don't see how my life is any of your business. I can handle my own problems. And right now, your one of them." Chihiro walked out, leaving a shocked teacher behind.

But then there were problems at home. Chihiro's dad lost his job. They had to live on a budget, and Chihiro started to take pack lunches to school, rather than buy from the canteen. And then Chihiro's mother was diagnosed with leukaemia, cancer of the blood. There was very little chance of survival, and the treatment was very expensive. They couldn't afford to buy anything, not even food. They were barely surviving, and most nights, Chihiro went to bed hungry. She stopped trying at school. She couldn't concentrate anymore. She even stopped talking. The only thing she did was draw. She was always drawing.

Inside, she hoped that Haku would come and take her away, and she would forget about her life here, like it was all a dream. But she knew it was only a dream, and one that had little chance of coming true.

A few weeks after her mother was admitted into hospital, her father came home late, and he was drunk. He started saying the strangest things, and he started blaming Chihiro fro her mother's illness. He told her that he wanted her mother to have an abortion when he found out about her. Chihiro said nothing, but she just stood, staring at him, filling with anger. He told her to get out, but she didn't move. He grabbed a handful of her hair and started to drag her. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He tossed her out of the house, out into the pouring rain.

And that leads us back to the beginning, Chihiro cold and wet, with no place to go. She didn't think she would survive.

She tried to dash across the street, but she didn't see the car. Luckily, the car was able to stop before it hit her. The headlight were on, so she couldn't see the driver, but he could see her.

"Chihiro?" It was Mr. Kaki. "Chihiro, what are you doing out here?" He quickly ushered her into his car. She was dripping wet, and it was obvious she had been crying. He gave her his jacket, which she was able to cover herself with completely. Since her clothes were clinging to her skin, Mr. Kaki noticed how thin she was. She looked like a twig, one that could be broken in half with little effort.

Chihiro sneezed, and Mr. Kaki handed her his handkerchief. She sneezed again. And again. Mr. Kaki worried she was getting a cold. Even though it was a short ride back to his house, Chihiro fell asleep.

Mr. Kaki carried her inside and laid her on the couch. He went upstairs and ran a warm bath for her. She was still asleep when he came back down. He gently woke her and lead her to the bathroom. He then went to find some clothes for her, which was difficult, as he lived alone.

Inside the bathroom, Chihiro slowly peeled her wet clothes off, and slipped into the bath. She washed herself slowly, and then washed her hair. By the time she got out, her fingers were wrinkled. She dried herself with a towel, and then cam to the realization that she didn't have anything to put on. A knock at the bathroom door made her jump. She quickly wrapped a towel around herself before opening it.

Mr. Kaki stood there with some old clothes. He looked at the ground, not wanting Chihiro to get the wrong idea. She took the clothes, and then closed the door. She changed quickly. The pants he had given her had a pull rope around the waist, so she could adjust them so they wouldn't slip down, but they were still much too long. The T-shirt swamped her, but she was grateful to have it

When she went downstairs again, Mr. Kaki gave her a warm glass of milk and some biscuits, which she ate quickly. He then made her a bed from the fold-out bed in the couch, putting as many sheets and blankets on it as he could find.

As she climbed into the freshly made bed, she looked up at him and said the first thing she had said in almost two months.

"Thank you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here's the next chapter. It's a bit strange at the end, but don't blame me! It was the stories fault!**

Where Are You?

Chapter 2

Chihiro woke early the next morning, before the sun had come up. For a few moments, she didn't remember where she was. It suddenly all washed over her, like a wave crashing down on the shore. It was horrible, experiencing it all again in a matter of a few seconds. It left a bitter taste in her mouth.

She could hear a sound from upstairs, the sound of running water. Mr. Kaki was already up, showering. She wondered if he always got up this early. Chihiro sat up, and swung her legs off the side of the couch. The carpeted floor was cold, but fluffy and pleasant at the same time.

She walked around the house for a bit, working out where everything was. She heard the shower turn off, and something dropped to the pit of her stomach. Mr. Kaki would ask a lot of questions, questions she didn't want to answer.

She wondered if she should pretend to be asleep, but she didn't have much time to do anything. Soft, padding footsteps came down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Chihiro was standing, awkwardly.

"Oh, you're awake," Mr. Kaki seemed surprised. "Good morning. Would you like some breakfast?"

Chihiro shook her head. She didn't feel very hungry.

"Are you sure? I'm making scrambled eggs."

Again, Chihiro shook her head. She didn't want anything.

"Okay, then." Mr. Kaki turned around and took a saucepan out of a cupboard. He got some eggs out of the fridge and started to cook. "You can have a shower if you like. I put your clothes in the drier, so they should be dry by now."

Chihiro nodded as some sort of thanks, but his back was turned, so she walked out of the kitchen.

The stairs at Mr. Kaki's house where wooden, and had a strip of carpeting down the centre. Chihiro slowly ascended, holding the railing tightly. She had never really liked two storey houses, as she didn't really like stairs all that much, especially wooden ones. They reminded her of a long lost memory, one that was floating in her mind, just out of reach. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling, and it made her nervous.

She reached the top of the stair, and sighed with relief. She went to the bathroom, although she had a peek in every room upstairs before getting there. She picked out the study, and Mr. Kaki's bedroom, and a room that looked like a library. Another room was like a walk-in wardrobe, except Mr. Kaki used it as a linen closet.

When she finally did get to the bathroom, she saw a fluffy towel and her clothes neatly folded neatly on a small table beside the towel rack. She undressed and climbed into the shower. It had a glass sliding door, unlike her shower at home, which had a cheap curtain hanging from it. The water was warm and felt nice against her skin, warming her up. She showered slowly, washing herself all over at least twice before turning the shower off. She stepped out, immediately feeling cold from the sudden temperature change. She dried quickly and then held the towel around herself, trying to warm herself up. She dressed with difficulty, as she was still trying to keep the towel around herself. Eventually, she gave up and let the towel drop to the floor.

When she finally returned downstairs, washed and dressed, sunlight was pouring through the windows. It seemed like it was going to be a nice sunny day after the storm they had had the night before. She walked back into the kitchen, where Mr. Kaki was drinking coffee and shrugging the jacket of his suit on. He looked quite funny, and Chihiro would have laughed if she wasn't feeling so glum.

"I've got to go to school," he announced through sips of his coffee. "If you don't feel up to going today, that's fine. You can help yourself to anything, but please clean up after yourself."

Chihiro nodded. There was no way she felt like going to school.

"Okay, I'm going now. I'll see you in a few hours." And he left, locking the door behind him.

Chihiro felt small and out-of-place in the big, empty house. She investigated downstairs for a while, tried watching television, but nothing was on. Finally, she decided to go upstairs. It was nerve-wracking, but she was too bored to really care.

She went into the study room, and found a blank piece of paper and a pen. She doodled for a bit, and then wandered around some more. The library consisted of boring books, like the history of law, and such titles, and the linen closet seemed to be of little entertainment. She eventually found herself in Mr. Kaki's bedroom. It had a pleasant feeling about it, but Chihiro felt she was intruding. But her boredom and curiosity was too overpowering, so she had to look around.

She didn't find anything to interesting, until she opened his wardrobe. It wasn't too interesting at first glance, but then she pushed the clothes to one side, and found a small door. And it was a small door, put large enough to get through.

She opened it, and it revealed a tiny room. A light blub hung from the ceiling, so she searched for the switch. When she turned it on, she found the strangest thing. Pictures. Big, painted pictures. But that wasn't the scary part. They were pictures of people she knew. Pictures of things that only she knew.

There were pictures of Haku, pictures of Yubaba, of Boh, of Lin, No Face, of everyone! Chihiro was shocked. Who had painted them? Why were they in Mr. Kaki's house, hidden away?

Chihiro noticed a picture sticking out from behind another, so she moved the picture in front to have a look at it. The picture chilled her to the bone. It was her. She backed quickly out of the cupboard and ran out of his room and past doors, until she reached the stairs.

She stopped there. The memory was so close now she could actually see it in front of her. Instead of Mr. Kaki's stairs in front of her, she saw old, rickety stairs, stairs that looked like they would break if a butterfly landed on them. She couldn't go down them. She knew they would break. She couldn't go down them.

She slowly backed away, until she reached the far end of the hallway, where the door to the linen closet was. She opened the door, and went it, slamming it behind her. She collapsed on the floor, in darkness, and curled up into a ball. She rocked herself back and forth, back and forth.

_Go away, go away. It's just a dream, go away. Go away, go away…_

Chihiro was jolted back by light streaming into the closet, because someone opened the door. It was Mr. Kaki. He looked down.

"Chihiro, what are you doing on the ground?" Chihiro backed away from him, slowly.

"Chihiro, are you okay?"

"Stay away!" She warned him, but it only confused him.

"Chihiro-"

"Stay away," she said again. "Go away!"

"Chihiro, whata's going-" again, Chihiro interrupted him.

"Why do you have pictures in your room? Why?"

"What do you mean, Chihiro? What were you doing in my room?" He laughed nervously.

"Why do you have pictures of me and my friends in your room? Why?" Chihiro's screams were barely audible.

"Chihiro, calm down," Mr. Kaki took a step towards her. She tried to scramble past him, but he caught her. She tried to free herself of his grasp.

"Let go of me!" She screamed as she struggled.

"Calm down!" He yelled at her, frustrated.

"Let go!" Mr. Kaki did let go, as he tossed her back into the closet. He closed the door, plunging Chihiro into darkness. She heard him locking it from the outside, and she jumped up to try and open to door. She began to beat her fists against the door.

"Let me out!" She screamed. "Let me out!"

But Mr. Kaki didn't let her out. Her screams became cries of desperation, before finally becoming quiet sobs, from exhaustion and fear.

"Haku," she cried gently. "Help me…"

Chihiro cried herself to sleep, unaware that her call for help was heard.

**Mr. Kaki is evil? I bet you didn't expect that. **

**The next chapter will be about Haku**

**Please review**

**OcyTaviAh**


	3. Chapter 3

****

This chapter might explain a few things, but all good chapters must end with a cliffhanger. Sorry.

**I know this story is moving fast, but the interesting bits aren't even here yet!**Where Are You?

* * *

Chapter 3

The day was very sunny, not a cloud to cover the brilliant blue of the sky. The warmth of the day did not suit the way Haku was feeling.

For the past few years, he had been free. Spirit's were immortal, so they aged very slowly. Haku did not look any different to how he had 5 years ago. But his life had changed much over those years.

He had quit his job at the bath house. Yubaba had no control over him now that he had remembered his name, since Chihiro had squashed the black bug that was placed inside of him.

He went searching for where his river used to be. It was true that the river had been filled in, and apartments had been put over it. Haku searched all over it to find some trace of his river, but he found nothing. He could still feel the presence of the river, yet he had no way of reaching it.

Haku didn't stay there long. It was much too depressing. So he left his old home at the river, and he had abandoned his job at the bath house. He had nowhere to go, but that didn't matter. He had his name back, he was free again. Yet, something was missing. There was that place inside of him that was hollow. He knew his name, but had lost his river.

So he started to wander. He wasn't in any one place for very long, because he never felt comfortable in one place. He mostly spent his time in the human world, because the spirit world was only a resting place for spirits, not a place that they stayed their long. Of course, some spirits did live there, but most free spirits lived in the human world, watching over their assigned places.

Haku came across many forest spirits, earth spirits, river spirits, and a few fire spirits. Some where spirits that had a certain species of animal to look over. Occasionally he came across a lost spirit, usually a spirit of an extinct animal species, and he felt sorry for them. They were worse off than him, they couldn't remember anything, and everything felt hollow and useless, pointless.

Some spirits he came across didn't belong in the human world, and they purposely stayed in the human world, to cause mischief and mayhem. Haku tried to stay out of their way, but it proved difficult, as they enjoyed annoying spirits that had found some sort of peace, to disturb them.

Haku often pondered whether he had actually found peace, or whether he just wanted to believe that. He had got his name back, he knew who he was, he had found his purpose on this world, but his purpose didn't exist anymore. Usually when a spirit realizes that their purpose in the human world is gone, they retire to the spirit world. But something kept Haku in the human world.

Chihiro.

No human could see him, not unless they were in the spirit world. But very few humans were able to return to the human world, and those who did had their memory swiped clean. But Chihiro was different. She was a human who had outsmarted spirits, and won her freedom, and saved her family. She remembered everything that happened in the spirit world, because she was young enough to believe. That's why most people don't believe in spirits, because they are too old to understand.

But Haku was yet to find Chihiro. He had searched, without realizing that he was searching. He tried to convince himself that eventually, fate will bring them together again, that it was out of his hands, yet he still searched. Sometimes he wondered whether Chihiro still believed in him, but something kept telling him that she did, some hopeful, optimistic part of him had to believe that she still remembered him.

He knew that she lived close to the bath house, but he was forbidden to go back there, even as a guest. He didn't want to go back to the bath house anyway, not if he didn't have to. So he had trouble finding her, but he wasn't suppose to look for her. He often argued with himself about this…

_You'll see her again someday._

But how am I suppose to find her if I don't look for her?

_Fate will bring you together. _

How do I know that I can rely on fate?

_Fate has always brought you together before._

But always at the worst times! She almost drown the first time, and then she had to save her parents during the second meeting!

_Fate will bring you together when you need each other the most. _

I don't want to wait that long!

_You will spend endless days searching for her, and never find her. Only fate can lead you to her. _

If fate will bring us together anyway, then what's the harm in searching?

_You may ignore the call of fate if you are too busy looking for something you will never find. _

Eventually, he always came to the conclusion that he couldn't search for her if he wanted to find her. It seems like a confusing notion, but it does make sense. If he tried to look for her, he would be able to find her, but if he didn't look for her, fate would eventually bring them together. But the only problem was that Haku didn't know if it was going to be in a day, a week, a year, five years, or fifty years. He would never know until the time came.

So he made a vow not to look for her, as much as he wanted to. So he wandered, sometimes walking, sometimes flying. Humans couldn't see him, and if they could, they would have thought him strange. Green hair, piercing green eyes, and traditional Japanese attire. He wore no shoes, yet his feet were always clean. Sometimes, if he walked down a busy footpath, humans would walk through him. The first time it happened, he was shocked, but he soon became use to it.

He spent much of his time watching human behaviour from a tree, where he would be camouflaged by any evil spirit or maybe a special human who happened to see him. He had seen many ordinary looking people stop and stare at a tree he was sitting in, and it made him wonder whether is was a spirit, or a medium, or perhaps just a cat that rustled the leaves.

He travelled to many places around the world. He went to India, and to most places in Europe. He found America interesting, and Australia had very spiritual places, although the 'civilized' places were tainted. He felt at home in most of Asia, although he found that Asian countries were against each other. He found that was rather strange, but then again, he could never understand human behaviour.

He found that while some places still held very spiritual vibes, they were tarnished by modern day life, such as advertising and such. He found places like Hawaii and Jamaica disappointing, as they were too commercial, and had lost their originality and spirituality. It was quite sad, especially to see the spirits had become like the people, materialistic.

When fate finally did call on him, he was quite surprised. It had caught him off-guard. He was in Australia's outback, mediating with the peaceful serenity of the place, when he suddenly heard a small voice in his ear.

_Haku, help me…_

He recognized the voice immediately. Chihiro was in trouble. Fate had finally called them together again, but only when she really needed him. It kind of annoyed him, but Chihiro needed him, so he must go to her.

It's not like he was upset to go. He wanted to see her again. He just wished that they wouldn't meet during a crisis. He wished they could see each other at a good time. But that seemed impossible.

So, following his instinct, he raced to where Chihiro was. It took him an hour, maximum, to get there. The urgency and the fact that he would get to see Chihiro again hastened him.

He arrived at Mr. Kaki's house, and slipped inside through a conveniently open window. It only occurred to him when he was inside the house how easy it was to get inside. By then it was too late. The window slammed shut behind him, and the walls were suddenly coated in a strange, blue-green electrical shield. He transformed back into his human-like form as a stranger emerged from a darkened corner.

"I see you've fallen into my trap, Kohaku." Mr. Kaki was grinning evilly.

"What have you done with Chihiro?" It didn't seem to bother Haku that a human could see him.

"Chihiro is fine, but it's not her I was really after. You see, she was just the bait, and you swallowed it whole, hook, line and sinker." Haku didn't dwell on this human humour for too long.

"If it's me you really wanted, then let Chihiro go!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. It will spoil my plan. She might have just been the bait to get you here, but it's no good just having you without her." Haku was confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, I can't tell you. You'll find some way to ruin my plan."

"Chihiro? Chihiro, where are you?" Haku was calling at the top of his lungs.

"She can't hear you, nor can she see you. It seems this little rescue is going to fail."

"Who are you? And what have you done to Chihiro?"

"Chihiro is fine. She's upstairs. As for me, I thought you might have guessed already, _little brother._"

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it, because it was rather boring to write. **

**Please review**

**OcyTaviAh**


	4. Chapter 4

Dear Anyone who happens to read this (Though I doubt that anyone actually will),

I am sorry to say that I have not paid much attention to this story. I may continue this story if I have inspiration, but until then, you may just have to hold out.

Once again, sorry.

OcyTavia

* * *

Editor:

Hello to all. This is OcyTavia's editor. No, she does not proof-read her own work. She get's bored, and she's can't seem to pick up her OWN spelling errors.

Anyway, We are holding a competition. Write what you think the next chapter should be. The Winner's chapter and name will be displayed beneath the chapter writen by the author.

If you would like to enter the compition, send OcyTavia and e-mail at with your chapter, or send it to OcyTavia over DocX.

Good Luck


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